Teresa Cristina (full name Teresa Maria Cristina [1] Italian. Teresa Maria Cristina di Borbone-Due Sicilie ; March 14, 1822 - December 28, 1889 ) - née princess of the Two Sicilies , after the marriage of the Empress of Brazil, wife of Emperor Pedro II. The people bore the nickname "Mother of the Brazilians."
| Teresa Christina Bourbon-Sicilian | |||||||
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| ital. Teresa Cristina di Borbone-Due Sicilie port. Teresa Cristina de Bourbon-Duas Sicílias | |||||||
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| Predecessor | Amelia Leuchtenberg | ||||||
| Successor | overthrow of the monarchy | ||||||
| Birth | March 14, 1822 Naples | ||||||
| Death | December 28, 1889 (67 years old) Porto , Portugal | ||||||
| Burial place | Pantheon of the House of Braganza , Lisbon | ||||||
| Kind | Bourbons , Braganca | ||||||
| Father | Francis I | ||||||
| Mother | Isabella of Spain | ||||||
| Spouse | Pedro II Brazilian | ||||||
| Children | Alfonso, Isabella , Leopoldina , Pedro | ||||||
| Religion | |||||||
| Autograph | |||||||
| Awards |
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Teresa Cristina was the daughter of King of Both Sicilies Francis I and his wife Maria Isabella of Spain . From birth, she was awarded the title of Princess of Both Sicilies . In 1843, she married the emperor of the Brazilian Empire, Pedro II . The marriage was by proxy and the couple did not feel any warm feelings for each other. Only with time, thanks to the tolerant nature of Theresa Christina, did they love each other. The Empress won the true love of the Brazilian people with her generosity, simplicity and kindness. Teresa Cristina also helped Italians in Brazil and sponsored many archaeological expeditions in her country.
The couple did not feel great love, but for life they remained good friends. Four children were born in the family, two sons died in childhood, Leopoldina , her youngest daughter died at the age of 24 from typhoid fever. Thus, the heiress of the Brazilian crown was their eldest daughter Isabella . After the coup in 1889 , the empress was sent into exile. Being far from home, she began to get sick and her health was deteriorating. Died of heart failure a month after the expulsion. For her life, the empress has earned respect from all walks of life in Brazilian society for her personal qualities, love of art and impeccable behavior. Teresa Christina even respected the opinions and interests of the Republicans, which led to the collapse of the empire and the proclamation of the republic.
Content
- 1 Early life
- 1.1 Family
- 1.2 Marriage
- 2 Empress
- 3 Recent years and exile
- 3.1 Death
- 4 children
- 5 Pedigree
- 6 Titles and awards
- 7 Literature
- 8 Notes
Early life
Family
Teresa Maria Cristina was born in the family of the then Duke of Calabria Francis , who later became king of both Sicilies. Her father belonged to the house of the Neapolitan Bourbons - the Italian branch of the Spanish Bourbons. From his father's side, his grandfather was King Ferdinand I , his grandmother was Maria Carolina of Austria , daughter of Empress Maria Therzeia , representative of the Habsburg imperial family. The mother of the princess was the Spanish infante Maria Isabella . She was the daughter of King Charles IV of Spain from the same dynasty of Spanish Bourbons and Maria Louise of Parma , a representative of the Parma Bourbons .
Her father died in 1830 . The mother neglected her daughter, and on January 15, 1839, she married a second time to Francis, Count of Balzo (1805–1882). The bride was fifty years old, and the groom thirty-four. Therefore, Theresa Christina was left an orphan. Since childhood, she has developed a soft and timid character, which her ruthless father or impulsive mother did not have.
Marriage
Upon learning that the young emperor Pedro II was looking for a bride, the government of the kingdom of both Sicilies offered him the hand of Theresa Christina. It sent the emperor several paintings depicting the princess and he accepted the marriage proposal. The princess went to Brazil with her brother, Prince Leopold. They arrived in Rio de Janeiro on September 3, 1843. At the marina they were met by the emperor with his retinue. Thousands of people greeted the future empress. When she descended to the Brazilian coast, thousands of fireworks were fired. The princess fell in love with her husband at first sight.
Pedro was disappointed in the choice of the future bride. He did not like her appearance, the shape of her face and figure. In portraits, she seemed to him a completely different person. Brown hair, overweight, sluggish expression, uneven gait, all this annoyed the emperor. He said of her that she was not a freak, but not a beauty either . Pedro at all began to despise Theresa, did not pay any attention to her. The princess burst into tears, repeating that the Emperor does not love me! . And yet, despite the emperor’s personal dislike, the wedding still took place on September 4 in Rio de Janeiro . Theresa became the Empress of the Brazilian Empire.
Although her husband did not love her, the Empress strove to be a good wife. The fulfillment of public duties and the birth of children softened the attitude of the emperor. Children created an atmosphere of family happiness. Their first child was born in February 1845 . He was named Afonso and given the title of Imperial Prince of Brazil . But he lived only two years and died in 1847 . In July 1846, she gave birth to a girl who was called Isabella , who would later become the crown princess of Brazil . In July 1847, she gave birth to a second daughter, Leopoldina , after marriage to Princess Saxe-Coburg-Gotha . The princess will die at the age of 24 from typhoid fever. The last child of the imperial couple was Prince Pedro, who also died in childhood.
Empress
Theresa Christina has become a loved one for the emperor. She was never his romantic dream or intellectual companion. She simply was devoted to him and never left him, and the emperor, in turn, treated her with respect and attention. Pedro treated her as a very good and close friend, ally, but not as a wife.
Teresa had few friends. She considered don Josefina da Fonseca Costa to be the best friend in Brazil. The Empress dressed always very modestly, only occasionally wore jewelry on the occasion of some kind of official reception. Among her hobbies were writing letters, reading, drawing, needlework, she was actively involved in charity work, was a religious person, loved music, especially opera, and herself learned to sing and play the piano. Among the sciences, the empress was most interested in archeology. From the first days of her stay in Brazil, she began to collect a collection of archaeological artifacts. Teresa was also a sponsor of archaeological excavations in Italy and many of the items found, from Ancient Rome to the present day, were delivered to Brazil. In order to improve public education and public health in Brazilian society, the empress actively involved Italian doctors, engineers, teachers, artists, pharmacists, and nurses to work in Brazil.
She never became a beloved woman for the emperor. The emperor started novels on the side, and the empress had no choice but to look at everything in silence. On the other hand, she always supported the emperor and his opinion, and the emperor paid her the same even after the death of two sons. After the birth of the youngest son, the empress was no longer pregnant. Most likely this is due to the fact that the emperor began to have more and more novels with beautiful and intelligent women. Especially the emperor became close to Louise de Barros , the wife of a French nobleman. She possessed all the feminine traits Pedro liked so much: intelligence, beauty, self-confidence. Countess Barros served as a governess for the daughters of the emperor, who did not love her. In her diaries, the empress wrote that she hated the countess with all her heart, but alas, she could not do anything . Daughters fully supported the mother, and at every opportunity they tried to harm the countess, humiliating her in front of others.
Recent years and exile
A strong blow for the empress was the death of her youngest daughter Leopoldina from typhoid in 1871 . In order to unwind and forget about the mountain, the emperor together with the empress went to Europe. There, in Coburg , they wanted to visit the four children of Leopoldina, who were left without a mother. The trip to Europe was overshadowed by sad memories. Her family lost the throne in 1861 and the kingdom of Both Sicilies entered the United Kingdom of Italy under the control of the Savoy dynasty .
A calm life ended when the monarchy in Brazil was liquidated on November 15, 1889 . Republicans seized power and ordered the emperor and his family to go into exile immediately. Upon learning of this, the Empress said:
| Now I will always cry, knowing that now I can’t enter my native land! |
The events of November 15, 1889 broke the Empress physically and psychologically. In sailing to Europe, she fell ill with asthma. On December 7, 1889, they reached Lisbon .
Death
From Lisbon, the imperial family went to Spain. On December 24, they received official news that they were forever barred from entering Brazil. Prior to this, the period of exile was not determined. This news finally undermined the state of Theresa Christina. Pedro II wrote in his diary on December 28 :
| Hearing that the Empress was calling me, I went to her bed. She was cold. |
The empress died at two in the morning of the same day. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Before her death, Countess Maria Isabel de Andrade Pinto sat next to her. The Empress told her:
| I am not dying of death, I am dying of grief. I miss my daughter Isabelle and my grandchildren, my beloved Brazil, this is a beautiful land, it is a pity that I will not return there ... |
On the night of the Empress's death, a large crowd of people gathered in the city to witness her death. At the request of Pedro, the body of his wife was transported to the church of San Vicente di Fora near Lisbon, where she was buried in the Pantheon of the House of Braganza . The news of her death quickly spread throughout Brazil and caused an unprecedented grief. Many newspapers wrote of her as the Mother of Brazilians . One of the magazines wrote about her:
| In the forty-six years that Donna Teresa Cristina spent in Brazil, she sincerely loved her homeland. And for all this time she won nothing but great respect, praise and the immense love of the people for her empress. We proclaim her “Mother of the Brazilians” and sympathize with the emperor during this difficult time. |
Her remains and the remains of her husband were transported to Brazil in 1921 . With great pomp, they were buried in the Cathedral of Petropolis. Several cities in Brazil were named in her honor: Teresopolis (in Rio de Janeiro ), Teresina (the capital of Piaui), Cristina (in Minas Gerais) and Imperatris (in Maranhão ). Not long before his death, Pedro donated the entire collection of archaeological artifacts that belonged to his wife, but on condition that this collection would be named after his wife. It was executed and the collection was distributed between the Brazilian National Archives, the Imperial Museum of Brazil, the National Library of Brazil and the Brazilian Institute of History and Geography. The collection is registered by UNESCO as a heritage of humanity.
Children
| Name | Portrait | Life period | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afonso, imperial prince of Brazil | February 23, 1845 - July 11, 1847 | Heir to the throne, died in childhood. | |
| Isabella, Imperial Princess of Brazil | July 29, 1846 - November 14, 1921 | Heir to the throne after the death of her brothers. Regent of Brazil in 1871-1872, in 1876-1877 and 1887-1889. May 13, 1888 signed the Golden Law on the abolition of slavery in Brazil. | |
| Leopoldina Brazilian | July 13, 1847 - February 7, 1871 | She married Augustus, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and gave birth to 4 sons. She died at the age of 24 from typhoid fever. | |
| Pedro Afonso, Imperial Prince of Brazil | July 19, 1848 - January 9, 1850 | The heir to the throne after the death of his older brother, died in childhood. |
Pedigree
Titles and Awards
- March 14, 1822 - May 30, 1843 : Her Royal Highness Princess of Both Sicilies
- May 30, 1843 - November 15, 1889 : Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of the Brazilian Empire
- Order of the Queen Mary of Louise (Spain)
- Order of St. Isabella (Portugal)
- Noblest Order of the Star Cross ( Austrian Empire )
- Order of St. Charles , Big Cross ( Mexican Empire )
- Order of St. Elizabeth ( Kingdom of Bavaria )
- Order of the Holy Sepulcher of the Lord of Jerusalem , large cross ( Holy See )
- Grand Cross of Honor and Devotion ( Order of Malta )
Literature
- Antunes, Benedito. Machado de Assis ea crítica internacional: [] . - São Paulo: UNESP, 2009 .-- ISBN 978-85-7139-977-8 .
- Barman, Roderick J. Citizen Emperor: Pedro II and the Making of Brazil, 1825–1891: [] . - Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1999. - ISBN 978-0-8047-3510-0 .
- Barman, Roderick J. Princess Isabel of Brazil: gender and power in the nineteenth century: [] . - Wilmington: Scholarly Resources Inc., 2002. - ISBN 978-0-8420-2846-2 .
- Behar, Eli. Vultos do Brasil: biografias, história e geografia: [] . - São Paulo: Hemus, 1980 .-- ISBN 978-85-289-0006-4 .
- Besouchet, Lídia. Pedro II eo Século XIX: [] . - 2. - Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira, 1993 .-- ISBN 978-85-209-0494-7 .
- Brown, Rose. American Emperor: Dom Pedro II of Brazil: [] . - New York: Viking Press, 1945.
- Calmon, Pedro. História de D. Pedro II: [] . - Rio de Janeiro: J. Olympio, 1975 .-- Vol. 1–5.
- Carvalho, José Murilo de. D. Pedro II: ser ou não ser: [] . - São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007 .-- ISBN 978-85-359-0969-2 .
- Cenni, Franco. Italianos no Brasil: [] . - 3. - São Paulo: UNESP, 2003 .-- ISBN 978-85-314-0671-3 .
- Kidder, DP Brazil and the Brazilians, portrayed in historical and descriptive sketches: [] . - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Childs & Peterson, 1857.
- Longo, James McMurtry. Isabel Orleans-Bragança: The Brazilian Princess Who Freed the Slaves: [] . - Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2008 .-- ISBN 978-0-7864-3201-1 .
- Lyra, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Ascenção (1825–1870): [] . - Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977 .-- Vol. one.
- Lyra, Heitor. História de Dom Pedro II (1825–1891): Declínio (1880–1891): [] . - Belo Horizonte: Itatiaia, 1977 .-- Vol. 3.
- Sauer, Arthur. Almanak Administrativo, Mercantil e Industrial (Almanaque Laemmert): [] . - Rio de Janeiro: Laemmert & C., 1889.
- Schwarcz, Lilia Moritz. As Barbas do Imperador: D. Pedro II, um monarca nos trópicos: [] . - 2. - São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1998 .-- ISBN 978-85-7164-837-1 .
- Vanni, Julio Cezar. Italianos no Rio de Janeiro: [] . - Rio de Janeiro: Editora Comunità, 2000.
- Zerbini, Eugenia. {{{title}}} (port.) // Revista de História da Biblioteca Nacional. - Rio de Janeiro: SABIN, 2007 .-- June ( v. 2 , No. 17 ). - ISSN 1808-4001 .
Notes
- ↑ genealogy.euweb.cz . Archived March 11, 2012.